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Stationary Jet Lag

I don’t fly as much as I used to, and I haven’t crossed time zones in over two years, but twice a year I get a horrible case of “jet lag” without leaving Eugene thanks to Daylight Savings Time.

It’s only an hour. It shouldn’t mess me up as much as it does, and yet every March and every November it takes me a week to recover. It’s not just “springing forward” and the resultant lost hour of sleep: “falling back” messes me up just as much. Stop screwing with my clock : if I want to lose an hour of sleep I can stay up late, and if I want to gain an hour I can sleep in.

I know it isn’t just me. As I’m sitting here typing this, Julia is next to me on her computer sorting through some paperwork and complaining about how she’s having to do everything twice because the time change has screwed her up. I’m also reading multiple complaints online. This hit everyone hard.

But changing the clocks saves energy, doesn’t it?

Maybe not. This video that argues that DST costs us far more that it saves:

Since I’m having trouble thinking straight I’m going to throw this open to you. How are you handling the change to DST? Are you as out of it as I am? Do you think we should pitch it? Or maybe stay on DST all year, keeping the extra hour of evening sunlight while not messing with clock changes?

Or do you like DST the way it is and—for the love of God—why?

Please explain to me, and while you do, I’m some getting coffee:

(These videos and many others by C.G.P. Grey can be found here. Fascinating stuff, but be warned: you can waste a lot of time on his YouTube channel.)

That one day, we will all hold hands and D A N C E in heaven, like birds on trees, being moved by the warm magnolia breeze, like purple annuals and yellow perennials growing in the same garden of love.